Lore: Aftermath
Lore: Aftermath, is a mech simulation video game, and the sequel to Dark Horizons Lore, developed by Max Gaming Technologies and published by GarageGames. It was released in 2009 on the InstantAction.com service, which was the only medium trough which the game could be played. The game is officially no longer available for play, since InstantAction shut down, though work on a new release of the game has been going on, supported by Max Gaming Technologies. __TOC__ Gameplay Lore: Aftermath's gameplay is drastically different from Dark Horizons Lore's, as the game was developed to play more like a traditional mech simulator game. Aftermath focuses on tactically dealing damage to your enemies' weak points, requiring more strategy, while playing. In Aftermath, each part of a MAV is individually damageable and each having certain consequences, if destroyed. For example, if one of the player's legs is destroyed, than the player MAV becomes crippled and drastically slowed down in moving speed. Or, if one of the player's weapons is destroyed, then the player obviously can't use it anymore, until they repair themselves. Aftermath features only 2 selectable base MAVs - the Malice and the Viper. It also has a feature called the MAV Lab which allows for detailed customization of the MAV's weapons, chasis, decals, equipment, armor etc. thus the different possible MAV configurations are virtually endless. The MAVs also control much more similarly to mechs in traditional mech games, movement being controlled by acceleration/deceleration, the torso controlling independently from the feet etc. Unlike Dark Horizons Lore before it, Aftermath could only be played online, with no single player option at all, as it was a browser game, only accessable online. There are 3 gameplay types in Aftermath: Free for All, Team Deathmatch and Mini-Nuke. In Mini-Nuke, there are 2 teams, each with a number of bases. In the middle of the map is a nuke that can be picked up and carried by any player. The goal is to carry the nuke into the enemy bases and destroy them, before the enemy destroys your bases. Story 'Setting' Aftermath is set 8 years after the events of Dark Horizons Lore - in 2168. The "Machine Wars" had finally ended, after the Eastern Confederation and the Federated States collapsed, from waging a brutal 8 year long war, which had completely drained them of resources. In the wake of the fallen factions, new organizations had begun appearing which included many soldiers from the "Machine War", funded by corporations who were now rich with money and resources after supplying the Machine War for 8 years. As these organizations grew in power and influence, conflicts grew in numbers, so the organizations began setting up their own mechanized armies, using the newest series of MAV's which, unlike the MAVs used in the "Machine Wars", were manually piloted by their pilots and were almost 4 times as large. The gameplay of Aftermath itself, is set in these conflicts, waged by the different corporations, against each other. Appearences Development Aftermath was developed from Max Gaming Technologies' desire to develop a true mech simulator game, which they had not achieved fully with Dark Horizons Lore, which had turned out more as a first person shooter rather than a mech game. The intention was to build a new game, from the ground up, that would appeal to mech game fans, yet would be accessable to more casual players as well. Max Gaming Technologies used GarageGames' Torque 3D Engine, which was more advanced in its capabilities than the engine used in Dark Horizons Lore. Early builds of Aftermath were used in extensive beta testing, with testers recruited from the Dark Horizons Lore community. Max Gaming Technologies would take suggestions from the testers and "spend at least an hour a day, discussing the pros and cons of these suggestions". Aftermath was published on GarageGames' browser game service - InstantAction, along with several other GarageGames' published games. However, the shutdown of InstantAction meant that Aftermath isn't available for play anymore. However, Max Gaming Technologies, with help from the Skunkworks team, have been working on a new release of Aftermath. 'New MAVs' Near the end of 2008, on the Aftermath forums, Max Gaming Technologies held a vote to select 2 out of 4 newly designed MAVs, which were The Abolisher, The Switchblade, The Prowler and The Juggernaught. The winners of the voting were the Juggernaught and the Switchblade, though for reasons unknown Max Gaming Technologies had decided to use the Abolisher instead of The Juggernaught. Artwork and development shots of the two winning MAVs were posted on the Aftermath blog afterwards, along with information on the MAVs themselves. The MAVs, however were never release for Aftermath, before the game was shut down along with InstantAction. However, it has been stated that all four of the MAVs from the voting, will be made available in the upcoming new release of Aftermath. External Links *Official Website - New updates and releases can be found here. *Lore: Aftermath on The InstantAction Wiki *Aftermath on GiantBomb.com Category:Video Games Category:Aftermath